Something for Memorial Day

I know some of you folks served in the military and would appreciate something like this.  As Memorial Day is tomorrow I thought I’d hunt down some information on veterans associated with baseball who served during war time.  The most well-known were those who served in World War II, and this website does a good job of documenting those players, as well as the ones who died in WWII as well as the Korean War.  I wasn’t really able to find as much information on Vietnam or the Gulf Wars.  

Obviously there are the famous guys who served in WWII, like Yogi Berra, Bob Feller and Ted Williams, but it’s amazing how many players skipped their prime years and went off to fight for our country (or in my case, my naturalized country) and while a lot of the MLB folks survived the war, there were a couple who did not and that’s in the memoriam section.  There were also lists of college, minor league, and even high school players who didn’t make it back.

I thought this might be a nice resource for you guys who actually served to write a more proper tribute.  I thought about enlisting before I became a citizen but ended up just going to college instead.  My wife’s family has a rich military history: her grandfathers fought in WWII/Korea and Korea/Vietnam, respectively, and her father was a Marine.  So I have the utmost respect for our veterans and appreciate those who make the ultimate sacrifice.

That’s all I have to say.  Happy Memorial Day.